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A passenger miraculously landed a private Cessna Caravan plane safely at Palm Beach International Airport Tuesday (May 11) afternoon after its pilot lost consciousness.
WPBF reports the passenger, who had no prior flight experience, was successfully guided by Air Traffic Control in Fort Pierce after calling in for help.
“I’ve got a serious situation here,” the passenger told Air Traffic Control in audio shared with WPBF from the Fort Pierce tower. “My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”
“Roger," Air Traffic Control responded. "What’s your position?”.
“I have no idea,” the passenger said. “I can see the coast of Florida in front of me. And I have no idea.”
“Maintain wings level and just try to follow the coast, either north or southbound,” Air Traffic Control said. “We’re trying to locate you.”
Air Traffic Control managed to locate the plane as it was flying just off the coast of Boca Raton and guide the passenger to a safe landing.
“You just witnessed a couple of passengers land that plane,” Air Traffic Control said in the radio audio shared by WPBF.
“Did you say the passengers landed the plane?” another voice responds.
"That's correct."
Aviation expert John Nance told WPBF that this was the first time he'd ever heard of an individual with "no aeronautical experience" successfully landing a plane as large and complicated as the Cessna Caravan.
“The person on the airplane who had no aeronautical experience listened very carefully and obviously followed instructions with great calm,” Nance said. “That’s what made the difference.”
The passenger's name and condition of the pilot have not been released publicly as of Wednesday (May 11) morning, however, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the pilot is believed to have experienced a medical emergency.
An FAA investigation into the incident is ongoing.